Easy Prey

On this podcast, we talk a lot about identifying and avoiding online fraud. But in this episode, our guest is going to share his experiences tracking down the individuals, syndicates, and criminal organizations behind pet scams, how they utilize freelancers, and how they launder their ill gotten gains. Today's guest is Jack Whittaker. Jack is a Criminology PhD candidate with a specialization in published literature on online fraud. In addition, he has a proven track record of doing media interviews for local and national outlets, lectures, conference speaking, and promo consulting for policy think tanks.

• [0:54] - Welcome back to the show, Jack! Check out episode 103 with Jack on pet scams. Jack shares his background and current roles.
• [1:51] - What are pet scams?
• [3:36] - These types of scams do not actually have any pets that are being sold.
• [5:12] - Jack discovered the economy built behind building websites and laundering money.
• [6:30] - These crime organizations are typically located in Cameroon.
• [7:21] - Some web developers are hired freelancers to create a fraudulent website.
• [9:10] - All the web developers in Cameroon know that they are doing something wrong, but they are looked over.
• [11:05] - The civil war in Cameroon has facilitated people's willingness to participate in crime.
• [13:20] - CashApp and Cryptocurrency have made money laundering a lot easier for scammers.
• [14:31] - Syndicates are better paying clients.
• [15:52] - Why do people knowingly work for syndicates when they know that they are helping them defraud others?
• [17:28] - Scammers are now recruiting people from other countries by flaunting their money.
• [19:05] - Jack shares one of the more intriguing ways scammers launder money.
• [22:37] - Jack tells the story of a scammer who works for a syndicate and an experience he had with the police in Cameroon.
• [25:05] - The FBI needs to put more attention on volume crimes. Lots of people stealing small amounts of money from lots of people.
• [26:14] - Jack explains things to look for in listed apps that could be money laundering.
• [29:05] - Jack would love to see more research and interviews with cyber criminals.
• [30:58] - If you are doing research, there are some ethical questions to answer.
• [32:08] - When interviewing cybercriminals, one of the harder questions for Jack to answer was whether they should be paid for their time.
• [34:10] - If you want to be a good researcher in crime science, you unfortunately have to get your hands dirty.
• [35:51] - There is a hierarchy of different scams and cybercrime.
• [37:46] - In Cameroon, this type of business is accepted.
• [39:40] - Jack describes some of the things that he has seen sold online illegally that people don't think about being available.
• [41:16] - Because of the nature of purchasing things illegally, people won't report being scammed.
• [42:10] - Cybercriminals are 97% guaranteed to get away with their crime and in a war torn country, there's almost no chance of getting caught.
• [44:12] - There's a lot of confusion on who monitors domain name registrars.
• [46:30] - We don't know if private regulators are legally viable.
• [48:30] - There have been some successes that Jack shares examples of.
• [50:51] - Chris and Jack have the idea of paying web developers to report fraudulent sites they create.
• [53:50] - Cybercriminals that Jack interviewed are very desensitized to the work they're doing to hurt people.

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Venmo, CashApp, Zelle, and other payment apps are convenient for sending money to family and friends. But are they really safe to be using? Today's guest is Michelle Couch-Friedman. Michelle is the founder and CEO of Consumer Rescue. She is an experienced consumer reporter, advocate, mediator, author, and licensed psychotherapist. Michelle has also been a columnist, contributing editor, and former executive director for Elliott Advocacy, a non-profit organization dedicated to consumer advocacy.

• [1:05] - Michelle explains her role within Consumer Rescue and the mission of the company.
• [2:52] - About 7 years ago, Michelle had a negative consumer experience.
• [5:12] - Her experience led to her journey in consumer advocacy.
• [7:56] - Through Consumer Rescue, Michelle assists people in staying calm and logical. Stick with the facts and stand out with brevity.
• [9:32] - Payment apps have become the preferred method for scammers worldwide.
• [10:33] - Payment apps will not refund you your money if you are scammed.
• [12:34] - Scammers set up websites that look professional and legitimate.
• [13:32] - This is very common with purchasing pets online.
• [14:35] - There are incremental steps to increase the amount of money sent.
• [15:50] - The incremental steps are common in romance scams as well.
• [16:51] - Michelle describes what a Chargeback scam is and how it began with Venmo, but shouldn't work with Zelle.
• [18:59] - Don't send money back if you receive money by accident from a stranger.
• [21:03] - There are safety nets in place to ensure accidents don't happen. Don't be hasty.
• [22:42] - If you don't use a payment app or don't understand how to use it appropriately, don't have it on your phone.
• [24:35] - The apps are not a bank. They do not come with the same kind of protections.
• [26:52] - Payment apps are never going to be the preferred method of payment from any legitimate company.
• [28:27] - It is always a red flag when someone is trying to get you away from the website or legitimate platform.
• [30:48] - Look closely at websites and reverse lookup images on Google.
• [32:23] - Airbnb and vacation listings are common scams.
• [34:31] - When it comes to property listings, there are steps you can take to ensure its legitimacy.
• [36:37] - Alternatively, if something is listed underpriced, that could also be a red flag.
• [39:29] - Airbnb began as shared space rentals only.
• [41:10] - Make all your payments from the platform. Avoid third party payments.
• [42:57] - Prevention is best. Once you're in this situation, you are likely out of your money.

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With financial payment platforms used more regularly to exchange cash between individuals, scammers have become more creative in using them to defraud users. Today's guest is John Breyault. John is the National Consumers League Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications, and Fraud. As the director of Fraud.org, John is a nationally recognized expert in fraud, with more than 17 years of experience in educating consumers in advocating for stronger consumer protections at the federal, state, and local levels. He is the author of Fraud.org's monthly Fraud Alert emails and NCL's bi-weekly Data Insecurity Digest. He has testified before Congress, federal regulatory agencies, and state legislatures dozens of times about fraud related topics. He is quoted regularly in the press about fraud including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post.

• [1:10] - John shares his background and current roles with the National Consumers League.
• [3:02] - John has been working in consumer advocacy for over 20 years.
• [4:27] - What are peer to peer payment platforms? Venmo is the most commonly used.
• [5:53] - The features of peer to peer payment platforms that are attractive to users are also attractive to scam artists.
• [7:46] - John shares the trends in what scammers have been using to get money through Western Union, Green Dot cards, and gift cards.
• [9:32] - More needs to be done to make security a priority.
• [11:09] - John explains the difference between credit card transactions and peer to peer payment platforms.
• [12:16] - With peer to peer platform fraud, banks can't do anything about it due to a loophole in the law.
• [13:38] - When this type of fraud is much more painful to experience than credit card fraud.
• [14:44] - A huge appeal to these platforms is that they are free. But security needs to be improved.
• [17:09] - There are a couple of regulations related to the connection of Venmo to a bank account.
• [19:19] - The responsibility has been put on users and victims to monitor and fight back against fraud.
• [21:47] - Scammers are very adept at creating a sense of urgency.
• [23:38] - John shares an example of how this sense of urgency can fool anyone.
• [24:34] - Cryptocurrency is the next focus of attention for those trying to prevent fraud.
• [26:40] - These trends tend to follow a pattern.
• [28:09] - One of the problems in tracking scam trends is the way data is collected.
• [29:23] - We need to change how we talk about fraud victims.
• [31:28] - Scams are run as a business these days, which make them much more convincing than in the past.
• [34:15] - With most overseas scams, the likelihood of getting your money back is slim.
• [35:50] - As a business, think about how you can make peer to peer payment apps as safe as possible?
• [37:35] - John shares an example of Venmo transactions that are protected and those that are not.
• [40:07] - A legitimate business will accept payment in other ways than only peer to peer apps.

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Predators look to take advantage of people during the roughest situations of life. A perpetrator of insurance fraud makes a career out of milking the system thinking it's a victimless crime. Today's guest is Officer Tony Royall. Officer Royall started in the Virginia Department of State Police in 1986. He worked in Accident Reproduction and then became an agent in Narcotics. Officer Royall has now been working in Insurance Fraud for the past 22 years.

• [0:47] - Officer Royall shares his background in law enforcement.
• [2:24] - Over the years, there have been a lot of wild insurance fraud cases for Officer Royall. He describes a recent one that had an unexpected twist.
• [4:47] - How was this insurance fraud discovered?
• [7:18] - One of the most prevalent insurance fraud situations is staged auto accidents.
• [9:01] - Officer Royall describes another case and what the result was for the perpetrator staging accidents and fabricating medical bills.
• [11:15] - Investigations are geared toward the people who intentionally commit crime.
• [12:55] - Staged accidents that are insurance fraud are usually committed by multiple people working in tandem.
• [13:59] - Officer Royall explains another type of insurance fraud case involving a staged slip and fall accident.
• [15:59] - Sometimes people take the opportunity to purposefully stage an accident in a public place.
• [17:54] - With every case of insurance fraud, premiums for everyone else could go up.
• [19:53] - There are times when the police are contacted by insurance agencies, but are mostly contacted about insurance fraud by possible victims.
• [21:18] - Always make sure your policy is up to date and periodically check on things to be sure it's active.
• [22:13] - Read the policy and what is covered.
• [23:14] - Keep an inventory of high ticket items in your home and business including serial numbers. Documentation is extremely helpful in the event of fraud.
• [25:20] - Catastrophic events create opportunities for perpetrators trying to solicit.
• [26:15] - If you find yourself in an automobile accident, take photos of the damage of both cars and document details.
• [28:02] - How can you document details of an accident?
• [29:21] - Be diligent and make as much information known as possible.

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The instinct to respond immediately to incorrect, negative, or hurtful comments online almost seems to be hardwired. How we respond can lead to unintended detrimental consequences and lead us down a dark path.

Today's guest is Dr. Robin Kowalski. Dr. Kowalski is a professor of Psychology at Clemson University. She obtained her PhD in Social Psychology from the University of North Carolina Greensboro. Her research interests focus primarily on adverse interpersonal behaviors, most notably complaining, teasing, and bullying with a particular focus on cyberbullying.

• [0:57] - Welcome to the show, Dr. Kowalski! She shares her focus on cyberbullying and how she found herself interested in this research.
• [2:27] - Traditional bullying is intended and repeated aggressive behavior. Cyberbullying is similar but there are some differences.
• [4:24] - Perceived anonymity in the online world gives bullies a great deal of power.
• [5:42] - People who are involved in traditional bullying tend to also participate in cyberbullying.
• [7:05] - There are many different reasons why someone bullies another either traditionally or virtually.
• [9:18] - In the virtual world, anyone can be a victim and anyone can be a perpetrator.
• [10:31] - Cyberbullying can take several different forms.
• [11:56] - If it happens once, simply walk away and don't respond. But what happens if it keeps happening?
• [13:10] - Young people may not want to be honest with their parents out of fear that their technology might be taken away from them.
• [15:29] - The feelings involved with cyberbullying range from anxiety to suicidal ideation.
• [17:22] - Academic issues become a problem as well, even though cyberbullying takes place off of school grounds.
• [18:58] - Robin describes "mattering" and how this can impact youth in school.
• [20:38] - Social isolation is a warning sign for a lot of things. Parents need to be on the lookout and open up lines of communication.
• [22:40] - Anonymous reporting needs to be present, effective, and people need to be educated.
• [23:51] - Cyberbullying is not limited to youth. It happens in the workplace as well.
• [26:47] - Through Covid-19, prevalence rates did not change as much as Robin expected.
• [29:15] - If we receive something negative, Robin advises to pause before responding emotionally.
• [30:55] - There's such a familiarity with technology that it has become normalized to cyberbullying.
• [32:57] - Suicide is a possible and horrible result of cyberbullying.
• [35:05] - There's a more permanent feeling to cyberbullying.
• [36:32] - Employers can also search for evidence of behavior patterns in potential employees.
• [38:57] - Education is key and victims speaking out about their experience helps people understand the impact.
• [41:42] - Robin shares about a time she experienced some level of cyberbullying.

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Smishing texts have increased over 60% in just one year. With scammers spoofing caller ID, how can you trust any communication coming onto your phone? Today's guest is Giulia Porter. Giulia is the Vice President of RoboKiller, the app that eliminates 99% of spam calls. Since 2017, Giulia has been leading RoboKiller's vision to create a world without spam calls. And now more recently with spam texts, they've introduced Text Killer.

• [1:04] - Giulia shares her background and why she was led to a career with cyber security.
• [2:24] - Caller ID spoofing is when a scammer changes what number comes up on your phone when they call. There is also neighbor spoofing.
• [4:30] - Technology has allowed scammers to call from any number, including your own.
• [5:54] - Scammers try to stay ahead of trends.
• [6:30] - Stir/Shaken is a framework designed to help stop spam call problems.
• [8:12] - Most United States phone providers did implement this.
• [10:10] - Giulia explains how this framework works and some of the pitfalls it has.
• [12:08] - As of May, we are at about 6.5 billion estimated spam calls in the United States per day. About 35-40% of those use caller ID spoofing.
• [13:19] - Spam texts are on the rise having experienced a 60% increase in one year.
• [15:01] - Text Killer tries to distinguish between spam and unwanted texts.
• [16:21] - Giulia describes a court case against Facebook that changed the landscape of notification texts.
• [18:01] - Some people have a "burner phone" with a separate number that they use for accounts that require a phone number.
• [21:03] - Giulia shares some of the scams that were trending in the last couple of years and what scammers were targeting.
• [22:20] - In 2022, there has been an increase in illicit spam texts.
• [24:27] - Don't tap links in texts or reply to them. Delete the text.
• [26:18] - Thinking about your phone number in a more serious way is a way to be more aware of how many people have access to it.
• [27:56] - Chris shares something you can do about your personally identifiable information online.
• [29:20] - RoboKiller and Text Killer use AI and machine learning to analyze calls and texts to stop them from reaching you.
• [30:50] - You can talk to your carrier to find what protection they offer.
• [32:01] - Another concern is lobbyists paying providers to have select campaign texts to come through.
• [33:13] - You can report spam texts and notify your carrier.
• [34:52] - How does Robo and Text Killer make sure the numbers and texts that are blocked are accurate?
• [38:12] - RoboKiller has to work with different providers and that creates challenges when they all function slightly differently.
• [40:38] - The next wave of scams are through apps like WhatsApp and Messenger.
• [43:12] - Organizations need to also consider how much they lose to scams posing as them.
• [45:12] - RoboKiller is available online as well in the app store on iPhones and Android. There are free services and premium.

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Can understanding someone's digital footprint really make it easier for it to predict what they'll be doing using AI? Today's guest is Daniel Hulme. Daniel has a PhD in Computational Complexity and works in the field of AI, applied technology, and ethics. He is the CEO and founder of Satalia, a Tedx speaker, and educator at Singularity University.

• [0:50] - Daniel has already been interested in how humans behave and describes how he got into AI.
• [2:05] - AI gets grouped into technology but there are a lot of different types of AI.
• [3:50] - The ultimate goal of AI is to have computers make decisions and learn from the decisions, but that's not commonplace right now.
• [5:31] - Someone's digital footprint can be used to learn a lot about them.
• [6:51] - The challenges that we are facing with AI are not ethical challenges, they are safety issues.
• [8:29] - AI is super complex and is becoming more difficult to test.
• [10:03] - AI's learning isn't usually the problem. It's the framework put in place.
• [11:36] - Machine learning is a generalization of the world which can create biases.
• [14:26] - Building explainable systems is incredibly important.
• [16:20] - Daniel gives an example of how AI can use data but why human decisions are still important.
• [18:16] - It's much more cost effective to have simple solutions than complex ones.
• [20:35] - What is the effect of building a super intelligence? We don't know. Daniel explains the singularities involved.
• [21:45] - These technologies are replacing people in completing some tasks. This is arguably a good or bad thing, depending on how you think about it.
• [23:47] - There are different safeguards against each of these singularities.
• [24:56] - Daniel shares what he thinks will be the solution.
• [28:07] - Who is going to make this "glorious future"?
• [29:36] - As AI takes the roles of employees in some companies, Daniel believes it will balance out again.
• [32:01] - There are jobs that may be impacted more than others.
• [33:46] - Something else that Daniel thinks may happen is a new economic structure.
• [35:12] - The highest cost for many organizations is human labor.
• [36:42] - There's a possible paradigm shift that will have to change the way we think about work and money.
• [39:30] - Daniel is optimistic that we're headed in the right direction.

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Advertisements can manipulate us and depict a product that doesn't actually work. The challenge is knowing if the technology does what they say it does. Today's guest is Ken from Computer Clan. Ken, or commonly known as Crazy Ken, has been running the Computer Clan YouTube channel since September of 2007. He posts tech videos about rare and retro tech, new tech, and even has a series about scammy tech products. Whether you are a tech whiz or a beginner, it doesn't matter. Ken will bring the knowledge, science, entertainment, and even debunk a few scams along the way.

• [0:51] - Computer Clan is one of the longest running tech focused YouTube channels. Ken shares the channel's background.
• [2:28] - The channel is celebrating its 15th anniversary and now is Ken's full time job.
• [3:06] - Ken shared how a tech product advertisement gave him the idea to debunk false advertisements in videos.
• [4:27] - When he was younger, Ken made a purchase and experienced the disappointment of advertisements that promise more than they offer.
• [7:38] - A big red flag to look for is the cheesy video ad that promises things that seem miraculous.
• [8:40] - Another ad feature that can be used ethically, but can also be abused are those fake countdown timers on websites.
• [9:47] - Review sections of a product are not always accurate. If you take a closer look, some of the comments are the same.
• [11:45] - If there is a bad experience, even if there isn't a review, people do tell their friends. Be careful about perfect reviews.
• [12:37] - Ken shares a story about ads that steal video footage from other companies.
• [14:10] - There are a lot of ways to find stock footage, but many fake ads pull footage from copyrighted material.
• [16:57] - Some of the products might not be odd, but Ken says that some of the clickbait ads are strange.
• [18:21] - In the early days of Covid, people took advantage to create ads that claim more than is possible.
• [20:25] - Ken shares some products that he thought would be a scam that actually turned out to work fine, but the ads were misleading.
• [22:40] - During his videos, Ken even sometimes has a fire extinguisher handy.
• [24:19] - Urgency could be a red flag.
• [25:30] - Ken shares some of the products he is looking at to debunk the ad and the product.
• [27:20] - The educational element of the Computer Clan YouTube channel can show you that although not all products are fake, they may not be what you need.

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Working from home has increased the ability for cyber criminals to exploit companies. Listen on for how to be sure that the email you received isn't from someone impersonating someone else. Today's guest is Eric O'Neill. Eric is a security expert and author that presents keynotes internationally about espionage, national security, cyber security, fraud, corporate diligence and defense, and of course, hacking. Eric has worked as an FBI counterterrorism and counterintelligence operative, national security attorney, and a corporate security consultant. He founded The Georgetown Group, a premier investigative and security business firm. Eric is also the national security strategist for Carbon Black, the leader in next gen endpoint security and serves on the general council for global communities and international security.

• [1:05] - Eric shares his background and how he got involved in cybersecurity. He describes his previous role in the FBI.
• [2:47] - Moving on after his career in the FBI, Eric currently wears many different hats in various roles.
• [4:58] - Using his interest in hacking, he was able to catch the biggest FBI spy in history.
• [6:48] - Everything changed about how we work since the pandemic.
• [7:46] - In many cases, people were working and kids were learning from mobile devices. We weren't ready for this to happen.
• [9:09] - The massive increase in people working from home, increased the number of attacks.
• [10:25] - Eric shares some statistics of reported cyber attacks in the last couple of years.
• [11:38] - Romance scams are the second-highest attack trend since the start of the pandemic.
• [12:50] - One of the positives that came from this change to remote, is in hiring talent from around the world.
• [14:10] - Eric thinks we will see more scams of people impersonating CEOs or higher ups in a company.
• [16:27] - Passwords are useless without multi-factor authentication.
• [18:03] - SMS authentication isn't great, but it's better than nothing.
• [19:53] - Eric shares how people can mine data they purchase from the dark web and how easy it could be.
• [22:48] - Cyber criminals want to take down an entire critical infrastructure.
• [24:42] - Criminals are getting much more clever in throwing people into chaos by attacking critical infrastructure.
• [25:32] - Eric believes that cyber attacks will be the method of attack in the next major war.
• [28:05] - He uses the example of the colonial pipeline to demonstrate what chaos these attacks can create.
• [30:10] - There is some speculation of possible attacks on critical infrastructure and the possibility of them maintaining presence.
• [33:19] - Chris shares the issues with power in his area.
• [35:25] - Jokingly but accurately, Eric shares that your children are great hackers.
• [38:42] - Some apps change the location of numbers for entering a PIN so people can't pick up patterns.
• [40:54] - There are some medical devices that could be compromised.
• [42:50] - The average person doesn't think about the ways someone can have malicious intent.
• [44:41] - Cyber espionage is definitely a problem, but cybercrime is what the average person needs to be aware of.
• [46:09] - Don't click on links. Known vulnerabilities are the most commonly successful attack.
• [48:20] - The Dark Web is the third largest economy in the world.

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The thought of your computer getting a virus implies something biological, but the fear of infection is real. Are there prevention techniques that you need to be implementing now? Today's guest is Ran Levi. Ran has been podcasting since 2007 and started with a podcast regarding history and technology. He is the co-founder of PI Media LTD, helping other people do podcasts. He is the editor and host of the popular podcast Malicious Life that tells the stories of the histories of cyber security with commentary by hackers, security experts, journalists, and politicians.

• [1:02] - Ran is a podcaster from Israel and he shares his background and podcast beginning.
• [2:18] - Through podcasting, Ran was asked to begin another podcast about cyber security which was a topic he was passionate about.
• [4:36] - Knowledge is important but the stories are the key to an impactful podcast.
• [5:56] - In the early days, pirating games and media was commonplace and through personal experience, Ran became very interested in the history of cyber security.
• [7:03] - Cyber security professionals are used to the idea of autonomous software, but for the public at large this is a weird idea.
• [8:50] - The terms used in cyber security suggest something biological and can be confusing.
• [10:45] - People have rediscovered how to create and replicate computer viruses hundreds of times over the decades.
• [12:54] - Computers and emotions intersect when it comes to scammers and viruses.
• [13:35] - Ran shares one of his favorite cyber security history stories from Israel.
• [14:48] - The feeling of anonymity is something very appealing about the internet.
• [16:08] - One of Ran's favorite interviews was with Steve Wozniak.
• [18:25] - Some hackers decide to go commercial.
• [20:14] - Ran shares the wildest story revolving around the Equifax breach.
• [22:02] - AI has extreme potential and we haven't seen its impact yet in cyber security.
• [23:31] - The human element is sometimes easy to detect a scam, but when AI learns to scam, things can get scary.
• [25:41] - Right now, the script or content from AI is written by people.
• [26:33] - You can easily gather a lot of information about almost anyone.
• [29:04] - Ran says never to trust an organization with your information.
• [30:06] - Working on his show and writing his book has created some level of cynicism.
• [31:20] - Things used to be a lot more "fun" online without being as fearful of being hacked.
• [32:28] - Scam calls are not as common in non-English speaking countries.
• [34:42] - Social media isn't evil. But the scammers are using organizations like Facebook and others to help them gather the data they need to scam you.
• [36:47] - For many companies, client data is a liability.
• [40:05] - For every modern company, information is their lifeblood.
• [42:03] - Ran shares the story of, as a newer employee of a company, he was able to get into systems he shouldn't have been able to access.

Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review.

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